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2015, 09-15 Study Session MINUTES SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING STUDY SESSION FORMAT Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers Spokane Valley,Washington September 15,2015 6:00 p.m. Attendance: Councilmembers Staff Dean Grafos, Mayor Mike Jackson, City Manager Arne Woodard, Deputy Mayor Mark Calhoun, Deputy City Manager Chuck Hafner, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney Rod Higgins, Councilmember Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney Ed Pace, Councilmember Eric Guth, Public Works Director Ben Wick, Councilmember Sean Messner,Traffic Engineer Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Pro Tem John Hohman,Community Development Dir. Chelsie Taylor, Interim Finance Director Gloria Mantz, Development Engineer Jenny Nickerson, Senior Plans Examiner Gabe Gallinger, Senior Development Engineer Rick VanLeuven, Police Chief Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk Mayor Grafos called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present. I. Historic Preservation—Gloria Mantz To continue previous discussions concerning the possibility of pursuing an historic preservation program, Ms. Mantz explained that the first step would be the City becoming a Certified Local Government(CLG), followed by initiating and adopting two ordinances: one to explain the program, and a second ordinance to establish the Historic Preservation Commission. As contained in the draft ordinances and shown on the PowerPoint slides, Ms. Mantz explained the process for beginning such a program, what it would include, how one's property could be included or removed from the register, the difference between the historic inventory and the historic register, incentives, and commission membership. Ms. Mantz clarified that the historic inventory would simply be a listing of historic properties and would not include any attached regulations, while properties on the historic register would have regulations attached based on the type of property and historic contribution. There was some discussion about Council's authority over the commission, appeal process if needed, and any penalty for removal from the register. Councilmember Pace said he was excited about this topic at first but is bothered that the State of Washington has to be involved; that he doesn't like the penalty for removing one's property from the register, said he doesn't see the benefits, that the whole thing seems complex; thinks "mission" creep would happen and he doesn't think this should be moved further forward. Ms. Mantz explained that the only way to offer the tax incentive is by our City becoming a CLG which must be approved by the State. Deputy Mayor Woodard also voiced his opposition to the ordinances and said he doesn't see any advantage to the average taxpayer; that the City of Spokane started their process thirty years ago and it is now a quagmire; that even a property included in the historic inventory would become something more later, and that is just the way government works. Councilmember Higgins agreed this would become something else over time and that a commission with good intentions changes with commission creep and ends up being restrictive to property rights and business development. Council Study Session:09-15-2015 Page 1 of 4 Approved by Council: 10-13-2015 Councilmember Wick said the City of Spokane is doing things such as offering economic incentives to encourage development, that we don't have a lot of older buildings like Spokane does, but that promotes even more the thought of how do we provide an option for those who want to preserve those buildings; said it is an option for the property owner and could help someone with an older historic building;that he feels this should continue moving forward; said the penalty helps protects others who don't have historic buildings or property and the tax break gives incentive for those who want to remain on the list; and that overall not having this makes us less competitive in the region. Mayor Grafos said he would also like to move this forward and sees this as an economic advantage; that the program is voluntary and the property owner has the option of coming forward to take advantage of the tax benefits, and if the owner takes advantage of the benefits,just like a bank loan, couldn't just take the money and then decide that is not something they want to do; that those funds are all the taxpayer's funds. Councilmember Hafner said he would also like to continue examining this topic and he too would like to preserve what we have. Councilmember Gothmann said he appreciates that there are many historic places all across the country that have been preserved. There was further discussion about whether to move this forward or not, and Mr. Jackson said staff can make some changes and bring this back for future discussion, and at that time schedule it for a motion to move forward for a first reading or not. To determine consensus, a show of hands resulted in Mayor Grafos and Councilmembers Wick, Gothmann and Hafner in favor of moving this forward; and Deputy Mayor Woodard and Councilmembers Higgins and Pace opposed to moving this forward; so this item will move forward. 2. Mansfield Speed Limit—Sean Messner Mr. Messner gave the background of the proposal to change the existing speed limits on Mansfield Avenue between Pines Road and Mirabeau Parkway, from 25 mph to 35 mph, as noted on his Request for Council Action Form. Council concurred to bring this back next week for a motion to approve a resolution changing the speed limit as noted. 3. Solid Waste Update—Eric Guth Public Works Director Guth gave an update of the City's solid waste program, which he said began last fall with a signed agreement with Sunshine Disposal, and opening of our transfer station operations November 17, 2014; he went over the transition process and of the ways we advertised to the public of what we were doing; said we have received fewer than one hundred calls from citizens on the transition (July 2014 through December 2014); and only ten citizen contacts/comments from January 2015 through September 2015; said the transfer station is operational and open seven days a week, accepts waste, recyclables, clean green and household hazardous waste. Mr. Guth also noted that there have been no complaints on wait times at the transfer station. Deputy Mayor Woodard remarked that possibly we need more directional signs as he heard from a citizen who was frustrated about not being able to find the station. Mr. Guth said he does not have a current plan for more signage but could research that topic. Mayor Grafos called for a recess at 7:05 p.m., and reconvened the meeting at 7:16 p.m. 4. City Hall Design—John Hohman Mr. Hohman explained that tonight is an opportunity to give Council an update on the City Hall design process and get feedback from Council on likes and dislikes; said tonight represents the first opportunity to see the options; said a large amount of work went into these designs in order to bring this to Council in as well thought out format as possible. Mr. Hohman said staff seeks Council's feedback on the two options, and he suggested Council take as much time as they desire in tonight's review. Mr. Hohman introduced Mr. Steve Roth, Project Manager with Architects West, who then introduced his team. Mr. Roth said City staff spent a lot of time to get to this point, which included working daily and meeting every Wednesday since the project started several months ago. Mr. Hohman said the design committee feels option 1 is a very safe option, and option 2 stretches it a little; said both options are roughly equivalent in cost and fit within the budget provided we stay with the smaller basement, which he said Council Study Session:09-15-2015 Page 2 of 4 Approved by Council: 10-13-2015 meets the program needs. Mr. Hohman also noted that after the PowerPoint presentation, staff would show a revolving model of the building. In response to a question about the schedule, Mr. Hohman said assuming the designs are favorable,the idea is to finalize the designs quickly and aim for advertisement in January with a bid award early February; said this is the favorable timeframe in order to get this started in spring as soon as possible. After seeing the PowerPoint presentation, and the revolving model, Mr. Hohman invited questions and comments. There was some discussion about the affect this would have on Sprague traffic and Mr. Hohman said the only portion of that segment is the conceptual design; said an optional task would be for a more detailed design but that would be a separate project from City Hall and would be outside the $14.4 million budget; said due to the uncertainty of what might occur across the street, the idea is to perhaps do that at the time of a future park construction; said we want to be cognizant of travelling public and not create too much traffic slow-down; said the road elevation would not change and the median would be installed to try to provide some shelter as pedestrians cross, plus there would be an activated signal; and said that would come later. A question about art displays also came up and Mr. Hohman said he met with Dr. Harken and talked about different areas within the building for possible areas to display art. Councilmember Gothmann suggested having the citizens select which option. Deputy Mayor Woodard said he likes option two and said he would like to see the other two basement options bid out as alternate bids. Councilmember Wick said he also likes option two as it lends a lot of light and makes the entrance stand out more; said he thought the Mayor and Councilmembers' area is a little too small and maybe not the best configuration having the Mayor having to walk through the area to get to his office. Councilmember Hafner stated that he too likes option two; thinks we should plan for the future for ten to fifteen years from now and consider a full basement. Councilmember Pace and Higgins stated they also like option two. Mayor Grafos said he likes option one, but is evidently outvoted; but that he feels option one is the more traditional looking building; but said that either design is fine; said the two main drivers of this City are community development and public works, and since they would be on the first floor, thinks the City Manager should be on the first floor as well to drive those two departments. Mr. Jackson said that as Councilmember Gothmann mentioned public input, he suggests if the idea meets Council's approval, to put this information on our website, and when we come back to Council and ask Council for a motion to proceed with the general design, that the public would be made aware of the upcoming motion so they would have an opportunity then to comment; and Council concurred. 5.Advance Agenda—Mayor Grafos Mayor Grafos said the opening of Mansfield presents an economic opportunity for us and the railroad; that maybe we could look at the area and talk to the property owner who owns the right-of-way,to realign that main line of UP Railroad and get enough right-of-way space to bridge that main line, and do an underpass at Pines; and asked if the engineers could look at that. Mayor Grafos also asked why we don't allow performance bonds; said he spoke with some engineers on some projects and was informed that we don't allow performance bonds that it has to be a line of credit. Mr. Jackson said he will research that. Mayor Grafos asked Council if they had any objection to cancelling the November 3 meeting and there was no objection; so it was noted that the November 3 meeting is cancelled. 6. Information Only:Analysis of Growth This item was for information only and was not reported or discussed. 7. Council Comments—Major Grafos There were no additional Council comments. Council Study Session:09-15-2015 Page 3 of4 Approved by Council: 10-13-2015 8. City Manager Comments—Mike Jackson Concerning the upcoming 2015 budget amendment, Mr. Jackson suggested the 2015 budget amendment be separated from the adoption of the 2016 budget, since the 2016 budget is based on the 2015 amendment; and suggested changing the final budget reading to November 10. Council concurred. Mr. Jackson said he received a request from Spokane County concerning the interlocal agreement to conduct a feasibility study for Plantes Ferry and potential development of a sportsplex next to the HUB; said he met with Doug Chase about this issue and the County's October 8 deadline, and suggests we wait until we see how that turns out and how we like the work of the consultant, and Mr. Jackson said Mr. Chase agreed with that suggestion. Mr. Jackson said our contribution to this study would be $12,000. Mr. Jackson said he supplied copies to Council of a September 8, 2015 letter from Doug Chase about the County's ballot measure for funding park improvements and whether we want to contribute projects to that list; he said Mr. Chase clarified that the Board of County Commissioners has not decided if that $55 million in projects would include the sportsplex and that they might reduce the amount of any additional county- wide park projects to reach that amount if not included; and he asked if Council would like to suggest projects. Councilmember Hafner said he feels this is a premature and ridiculous request. In response to Council questions, Mr. Jackson confirmed it would be a nine-year levy lift. Councilmember Gothmann said he prefers staying away from the levy lift; Councilmember Pace said he is not in favor of this, Deputy Mayor Woodard said he prefers to wait to see if they come back on the 9th of November, and Mayor Grafos said if we come up with projects for the City, we would be basically approving the levy lift,and he is not in favor of that either. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m. ATTEST- Dean Grafos,Mayor Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Study Session:09-15-2015 Page 4 of 4 Approved by Council: 10-13-2015